Are You Ready for the Country

Are You Ready for the Country is an album by Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1976. Its title track is a song from Neil Young's seminal 1972 album Harvest. Are You Ready for the Country began an uninterrupted string of #1 albums for Jennings; although his previous two major releases, Dreaming My Dreams and Wanted! The Outlaws, did hit #1, they were followed by the relatively unsuccessful Mackintosh & T.J. soundtrack album. Despite the title, this outlaw country album features covers of rock songs, including "Can't You See" by the Marshall Tucker Band. "Old Friend" was written by Jennings about Buddy Holly; the latter had been a close friend of his until his death in 1959. Jennings chose the traditional gospel hymn "Precious Memories" as the album's closing track; prior to the record's release, he had included very few such songs on his records. The album was eventually certified gold, with four top ten singles: the title song (#7), "So Good Woman" (#7), "Can't You See" (#4) and "I'll Go Back to Her" (#4). The original record had no liner notes; the 2004 reissue on RCA Records contained extensive liner notes by Rich Kienzle, who provided a song-by-song summary of the album, along with background information on the latter's creation.